Our View: Putting the SouthCoast on the path to prosperity

At long last, Beacon Hill has made good on the promise that's been made for decades, but never delivered. This week, the House and Senate approved a strong, comprehensive transportation bond bill that not only gets South Coast Rail on the right track with a $2.3 billion infusion of funds, but equitably enhances transportation infrastructure throughout the commonwealth.

At long last, Beacon Hill has made good on the promise that’s been made for decades, but never delivered. This week, the House and Senate approved a strong, comprehensive transportation bond bill that not only gets South Coast Rail on the right track with a $2.3 billion infusion of funds, but equitably enhances transportation infrastructure throughout the commonwealth.

The $12.7 billion long-term borrowing package funds major public transportation projects, including $325 million for the expansion of South Station in Boston, which is integral to the commuter rail connection to Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford and existing rail lines.

Once signed by Gov. Deval Patrick, the measure is expected to unleash 130 Massachusetts Department of Transportation projects, resulting in an immediate economic stimulus.

The bill also authorizes funding for the next fiscal year to the Chapter 90 road repairs program, which goes directly to cities and towns. Now that the transportation plan has been approved, taxpayers face the unpopular task of paying for it.

While the transportation bill funds capital improvement projects — including rail, roads, sidewalks, bridges and bike paths — to better connect the commonwealth, the final bill held off on the Senate’s more ambitious five-year authorization of the Chapter 90 program due to the uncertain fate of gas tax revenues.

That decision revealed a fracture in the Bristol County delegation that had united in bipartisan support behind South Coast Rail and the transportation bill, related to the best way to pay for it. State Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, R-Taunton, has been a leader of the movement to repeal the controversial law indexing the state’s gas tax to the rate of inflation.

Rep. William Straus, D-Mattapoisett, who was the chief House negotiator reconciling the House and Senate versions, said the uncertainty related to the potential repeal of the law by voters in November forced lawmakers to hold back on the five-year Chapter 90 funding in place of a one-year authorization.

Straus seemed to take a shot at Republican House members, like O’Connell, who support the transportation bill, but oppose the inflation-tied gas as a means of paying for it. “Paying for capital assets is not as much fun as spending for them,” he said. O’Connell, meanwhile, has argued that if state transportation dollars were spent more efficiently, such a measure — which is expected to provide $2 billion in revenue to help pay off the bond bill if it remains in place — would not be necessary.

Despite the expected ideological differences about the best way to pay off the significant debt the massive spending bill authorizes, it was good to see nearly unanimous legislative support of the transportation bond bill. Now officials have a responsibility to find the proper balance of smarter spending and new revenue streams to offset the new debt.

Page 2 of 2 - The transportation financing plan will connect every region of the state — including the long-neglected SouthCoast — with the jobs and opportunity that has blessed Greater Boston, while reducing congestion on the commonwealth’s roads.